The Irish standard., 1887-01-29

and the neighborhood for half mile around
carefully searched, but without another
ounce Of gold being found.
ToolEer was single man, about twenty
seven years old, and up to this hour it hal
been share and share alike with the little
band. His mind was instantly made up to
keep his discovery to himself, and to get
away with his treasure at the first oppor-
tunity. He dug hole and buried the find,
carefully marked the spot and returned to
camp and tried to conceal his satisfaction
and anxiety. It was month before he
made any move. His object was to get the
nugget to San Francisco, and it must be
carried on the back Of a horse or mule. He
had to invent an excuse for separating him
self from the band and this probably gave
rise to the first suspicious. Tooker pur-
chased mule of an immigrant, hung
around until he believed it was safe for
him to depart, and then dug up his nugget
one night and set out on journey which
would not have been safe for half dozen
men to undertake. Those were rough
days, and men who had met with poor luck
hunting for gold in the earth were on the
road as robbers and ass assins. Tooker's
companions felt certain that he had made a
find, and his every action was under sur
veillance for several days before he start
ed. He quietly withdrew from camp at
night, led his mule to the spot where the
nugget was cached, and loading it upon a
pack saddle he started of. He must have
known of the dangers of the road, but the
desire to convert that big lump into gold
pieces overcame his prudence. He was
followed by two of his companions, but
they hardly knew what course to take. He
had made find and was '.jumping" them,
but they had no legal right to force q di
vision.
Tooker was followed until day break, and
the men had about made up their minds to
halt him and force him to turn back with
his precious burden, when he was at
tackled by four or five footpads. A lively
fight ensued, and Tooker and one Of his
pursuers were killed, and the other was
driven off. He returned to camp with the
story, and this was the first of a long series
of adventures in which the big nugget has
figured. Tooker's friends determined t
overhaul the robbers, and, five in number,
they broke camp at once and began a pur-
suit. The footpads had camp or rendezvous
within few miles of where the robbery
occurred, and the nugget was taken there
for safety. This camp was discovered by
the Tooker crowd, and in the fight which
followed two of them were killed, while
only one the robbers escaped with his life.
The nugget had been buried, and although
the closest search was made tor 1T the
victors did not unearth it. The robber who
escaped made his way to San Francisco,
and six months later set about organ
izing an expedition to go after the lump.
One of the men who was to accompany
him got the location of the cache and set out
with companion and reached the place
two days ahead of the others. The nugget
was found, loaded on the back of mule
and the two had start Of day and half.
They iourneyed about forty miles, buried
the lump near mining camp and staked
out q claim and went to work as q part of
the programme to preserve their secret.
They remained IN camp for six weeks and
then left on foot, their mule having been
stolen. What happened to them and the
nugget is not known, or at least has not
been stated. The next time the big lump
was heard from it was unearthed in the
Hot Creek mountains Of Nevada by three
miners who had come from California. The
TACT that they dug it up and had it in their
possession was known to band OF sixty or
seventy immigrants, with whom the trio
travelled for several days. Every body got
look at the lump, and its history was re-
lated by one of the possessors.
Before crossing the line into California
the three men and the nugget left the train
secretly and were never heard of again. It
was three years before the nugget was
heard of again, and information Of its
whereabouts then came through half
breed Indian who was dying at military
post in Colorado. He told sergeant of
cavalry where it could be found, and the
sergeant and two private soldiers deserted
and went to secure it. They were tracked
to mountain about fifty miles away, and
were found to have dug up something and
headed for Kansas. They were followed
for day and half, and then the bodies of
the two privates were found on the ground,
shot through tn head. The sergeant had
murdered them in order to have the prize
all to himself. Civil officers all over Kan
,as and Nebraska were notified to be on the
lookout for the deserter and murderer, but
to this day no one can tell what fate befell
him. The big nugget has been heard OF in
IN indirect and roundabout way several
times since, and it has always been UNDER
stood that it was in the hands Of the In
dians Something definite as to its exact
location must have been learned this fall,
or an expedition would not be preparing to
set out at the opening Of winter. The lost
nugget Is no OOuOt tno AAISeSG AaoS VI
crude gold ever discovered in California,
and perhaps in the world, and il an expe-
dition of five or SIX men can succeed in get
ting possession of it at this time, there is q
fortune in it for each and every one.
CoRx-xEA1. is convenient and we
might, say staple, article of food in the
barn-yard and poultry-yard, yet it is not
the best food for chickens. It is very
good food in winter, as it is heating, but
for young chickens it is not sufficiently
growing. Very young chickens that are
fed on corn-meal exclusively are liable to
be troubled wit. bowel diseases. Give q